10 Ways Universities and Clubs Can Use Social Media to Better Connect With Students

October 18, 2018

Social media is quick;y becoming the best way for universities to recruit students.

After all, 88% of Americans aged 18-29 are on at least one social network.

This makes social media the place to advertise to students—and it pays to be where your audience hangs out the most.

But if you're a university and want to recruit on social, make sure you do it right.

After all, teens and twenty-somethings are some of the most social savvy people, and they can tell when your social media isn't up-to-snuff.

So in this article, we'll show you 10 ways that your university can make better, more connected social media shares.

Keep these in mind the next time you're creating content for your university's social media, or for a club or other on-campus social media account.

Sounds good? Let's get started!

1. Create a social media directory on your website

First thing's first: make it easy for students to find your social media accounts!

Seems simple, right?

Well, it is! Just create a social media directory on your university's website that shows a list of all affiliated social networks. Break them down by college, club, and other on-campus organization.

Having all of these social profiles listed in one place means that students can easily connect with clubs and other auxiliary social media accounts, so followers aren't only concentrated to your main university account.

DePaul University gives the reins of its Instagram account, @iamdepaul, to a different student every week. During the week, the student posts about aspects of life at the university and living in Chicago by way of photos and stories.

These social media takeovers give perspective to those considering applying to DePaul and make current students feel included—two huge upsides for the university.

5. Show some serious school pride

Create a buzz around the big game by tweeting, Instagramming, and otherwise sharing school pride.

This can be photos of sporting events, images of your school mascot, or just about anything else that represents your school colors. To make things even more engaging, come up with a school pride hashtag.

We're huge fans of Northwestern University's hashtag, #PurplePride.

6. Use Stories every single day

Use Stories to post about on-campus activities and make other announcements. Stories are put front-and-center and only appear for 24 hours, making them perfect for sharing urgent announcements and time-sensitive info.

Further, Instagram Stories are highly interactive. For example, you can use the poll sticker, question-and-answer sticker, or other interactive sticker to ask for student opinions.

7. Showcase successful alumni

Alumni Shaping Chicago:

"One of the reasons I chose Loyola was the focus on service and giving back to your community. Those ideals still motivate the work I do today."

Inspire your students by posting about successful and notable alumni. Some ways to do this include posting alumni quotes, sharing articles alumni is featured in, or even running some sort of weekly "alumni spotlight."

Oh, and not only does this inspire students, but it makes your university or organization look good too!

8. Invoke nostalgia

Speaking of alumni: don't be afraid to cater some of your posts to graduated students, too.

Some things to post include photos of campus, throwback photos, and invitations to alumni events. This gives current students perspective, and may be the push an alumni needs to return for their master's degree.

9. Use photos, videos, and GIFs

“My hope is to be productive and do good things with the time I have left,” says Elsie Tellier '19, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 12. “I have a life plan to do what I can to help others.” https://t.co/OhguXGFjQApic.twitter.com/Xcm1VuKoi4